[Vision2020] Al-Maliki: U.S. can leave 'any time'

[Tom Hansen]

You really ought to read the paper once in a while, pk.

>From today's (July 15, 2007) Spokesman review -

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Al-Maliki: U.S. can leave 'any time'

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his
government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraqi
forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want."

Al-Maliki sought to display confidence at a time when pressure is mounting
in Congress for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces. On Thursday, the House
passed a measure calling for the U.S. to withdraw its troops by spring,
hours after the White House reported mixed progress by the Iraqi government
toward meeting 18 benchmarks.

During a press conference, al-Maliki shrugged off the progress report,
saying that difficulty in enacting the reforms was "natural" given Iraq's
turmoil. "We are not talking about a government in a stable political
environment but one in the shadow of huge challenges," he said.

Al-Maliki said his government needs "time and effort" to enact the political
reforms that Washington seeks.

But he said if necessary, Iraqi police and soldiers could fill the void left
by the departure of coalition forces.

"We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the
responsibility completely in running the security file if the international
forces withdraw at any time they want," he said.

One of al-Maliki's close advisers, Shiite lawmaker Hassan al-Suneid,
bristled over the U.S. pressure, telling the Associated Press that "the
situation looks as if it is an experiment in an American laboratory
(judging) whether we succeed or fail."

He sharply criticized the U.S. military, saying it was committing human
rights violations and embarrassing the Iraqi government through such tactics
as building a wall around Baghdad's Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah and
launching repeated raids on suspected Shiite militiamen in the capital's
slum of Sadr City.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)

-----Original Message-----

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of pkraut at moscow.com
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 2:52 PM
To: vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] George W Told the Nation

Funny...I was just watching the Iraqi ambassador on c-span and that isn't 
what he said! Do you have some inside info that didn't come from our 
mainsteam press?? Because if you don't read or watch something other than 
CNN you do not know what you are talking about!



> Donovan --
> 
> We don't live in your fantasy world, where a competent leader has
> command of an omnipotent military able to sacrifice what is necessary
> to turn Iraq into a functional state. We happen to live in America,
> where the most incompetent President of a generation leads a severely
> weakened military amidst the ruins of Iraqi civil society. Your
> fantasy situation, where we can do sufficient good to make up for our
> inexcusable mistake, simply isn't going to occur.
> 
> The Iraqi people want us out. The American people want us out. The
> Iraqi government says "we can leave at any time."
> 
> -- ACS